The great war
by Crazy-Obsessed-Potter-Chick
Summary: Hope was just an experiment.Nothing more nothing less.That is until she is offered her freedom and parents in return for betraying the people at Hogwarts.Now a spy Hope can't let her emotions effect her in any way,but the trio knows shes different.
1. My one and only choice

**Authors note: Hey guys this is my third real story. I hope you all like this cause I have a bunch of twists you certaintly won't expect. Please read and review. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride. If I did I would be a whole lot richer and currently sitting on a beach in Hawii. Thank-you**

Hope steped into the train station pulling a trunk full of supplies she had never even heard of an eraser close at her heels. "May I ask a question?" She asked pulling the trunk a little faster to be out of range of an eraser swinging a fist at her but to her suprise the hit never came and she suddenly remembered that they were not in Itex anymore. "No!" The eraser snarled glancing at numbers of the platforms as they passed.

Hope shut her mouth she had learned to do as your told in Itex no questions asked. Normally she would have said something back, anything to irratate an eraser but this time her freedom and her parents lives were on the line. Hope had never actually met her parents. She didn't even know if her name was Hope she had given herself a name because at the Itex headquarters kids didn't have names.

They were refered to as experiment-212 or some other number. Lost in her own world Hope didn't notice when the Eraser suddenly stopped she just kept walking until she felt her arm being pulled backward. Hope held back a cry of pain as she heard her arm pop out of place as it had so many times before. "You need to pay attention to where I'm going girly." The Eraser hissed at her and she could here the dangerous edge to his voice almost as if he were about to bash her skull in. Hope mummered a quick apology to him and scolded herself in her mind for making a step out of line. Just a few more things you have to do Hope, she thought, then you'll be free to live your life with your parents. "Where is it." She heard although it was a lot softer as if she were running her hand over velvet.

She turned and watched as the Eraser's looks became softer and he looked more human. "Excuse me!" The Eraser called out to a family of redheads near the sign that read 'Platform 9'. Hope scanned the family quickly and noticed that two people were hanging to the back, a black haired boy and a brown headed girl that looked as if she had just stuck her finger in a light socket. The redheaded boy close to them burst out laughing and glanced in her direction as the Eraser's cry died out.

The Eraser yanked on her arm twice a sign that told her to play along or she would regret it later. Hope put on her fake smile she didn't use very often. You don't really have a use for it usually she thought. This was true Hope had only been outside Itex once maybe twice in her entire life. The Eraser ,whos name she couldn't remember for the world, slid his hand from her shoulder to her hand which he took and held as if she were a small child.

The two glided across to the family and two other teens who were staring at them curiously. "Hi, my name is Hayden and this is- Hope." The Eraser, Hayden, gestured to himself first and then to Hope who tried her best to look happy. "Um, Hope is new to this school and we can't find the platform." Hayden continued and Hope watched the disgust glimmer in his eyes as he pronounced her name. "Oh," said the motherly looking women that looked as though she hadn't gotten any rest in a long time.

"Which are you looking for?" The fizzy haired girl asked looking at the trunk that was trailing behind Hope. "Nine and three quarters?" Hayden said and it sounded like a question. "You mean the Hogwarts express." The black haired boy said staring directly into Hope's eyes. She squirmed sure that he knew why she was here even before she did herself. "Ummm. yeah I'm not from here you see. I'm from America you know Alaska" The red head nodded and told her that that made sense but the other two looked wary. The group stood in scilence for a few moments and Hope glanced at the clock on the wall that was about ten feet away. Good thing I have super senses she thought and yelped in suprise when someone's hand touched her arm.

"Hey, my names Hermione Granger and these are my friends Ron, Ginny, and their mom Mrs. Weasly, and Harry." She paused before saying the last name. Harry Hope thought why does that name sound familiar. "Hope?" Hermione said in that same tone that made Hope want to crawl into a hole. It was the same as the look Harry was giving her. One word suspision! Hope knew Harry must be well known because of the way his face scrunched up and he looked as though he expected some sort of reaction when Hermione said his name.

That was Hope's talent she could read people locate their inner feelings. Among other things this talent was her favorite but it wasn't like she wouldn't trade all of it for a normal life. Hope lost in her thoughts, like she was 99% of the time, looked up as someone cleared their throat. "Well if we want to get on the train we had better hurry." Ginny said and walked over to Harry who's hand she took. Hope nodded and Hermione explained quickly that muggles could not get past the barrier. "All you have to do is run at the wall and you'll go through." Ginny said happily throwing a grin up at Harry who looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Ok." Hope said and waved at the group as one at a time they disappeared into the wall. Both Hope and the Eraser, who had been watching the whole exchange, gaped at the place they disappered. Hayden looked down at Hope and gave her another mean glance. "Ok listen, your here to spy on this school find out everything you can. I mean find ways in and out, figure out how they defend themselves, how dangerous they are. Everything about them you can find out. These people call themselves wizzards and we have seen a display of their power. In that trunk you will find a series of books and supplies read them and use them as needed. Also you'll find a communication device in the trunk use it to stay in contact with the person we have. Wear it during all of your classes so that the person can give you answers any answers they know at least. If people ask you questions make up lies. Understand me?"

Hayden asked and Hope nodded voicing the one question she would proberbly get answered. "Don't schools usually have principals or leaders or something that know the people who attend?" She asked and the Eraser just smirked. "The person we have has taken care of everything you will need in order to go along with the flow. Don't screw this up 314 or you won't have freedom or parents." He said and pushed her towards the barrier.

Hope took a deep breath closed her eyes and ran forward expecting to smack into the wall any minute even though she had seen five people do it just moments ago. Feeling nothing Hope opened her eyes forcefully as soon as she thought it was safe to stop running and gasped at what she saw. A huge scarlet train and several people of all ages standing close by. Hope dragged the trunk she had close behind her as she made her way through the crowd admiring the taste of being free if only for a short while. She closed her eyes once again and took another deep breath smelling the air. At the Itex facility it always smelled of hospital and death because so many children died of experiments.

She was one of the very few that hadn't gotten her DNA messed with. Hope streched her arms and legs thinking about how free she was at the moment and how wonderful it felt to not be watched twenty-four seven. Hope sighed her reviere broken as someone from the train yelled 'all aboard'. She grabbed the stupid trunk agian and dragged herself to the train reluctantly. Growing up in a cage Hope had an issue with small spaces. And trains, from what she knew, were incredibly long and narrow. Turns out she was right. The train was as small as she imagined if not smaller and full of people in every part of it. Hope walked from on compartment to the next searching for a place she could be alone. Eventually she reached the last few compartments and realized that she wasn't going to get any peace.

Each compartment held several people and Hope had quickly apologized to them and kept walking. Hope sighed swinging open the next compartment only to find the four kids that she had seen near platform nine. "Hi," Hope said twiddleing her thumbs. "Umm, do you all mind if I sit here? I would sit somewhere different but there is nowhere else." She finished staring at her feet "Sure you can sit here." The red-headed girl,Ginny, said and patted the seat next to her. She seemed to be the only one who wasn't suspisious of her. Even the red-headed boy,Ron, who had been friendly to her was suspisious. She could imagine why she didn't know anything about them or 'magic' for that matter. How did Itex expect her to do this if she had no clue what she was doing. Hope thought they were out of their mind for believeing that there was such a thing as magic.

She hesitated for a moment almost backing out of the compartment and going to another but despite herself she found herself in the seat beside Ginny who gave her a comforting smile and turned back to the other three people in the compartment. Hope took this time to listen to what they were saying and giving up after failing horribly at trying to figure out what Quidditch is. Nerves ran through her body and she found her hands trembling as she thought about what was at stake if she failed this mission. But how can they find me if I run away she thought raking her fingers through her hair anxiously waiting to get off of the train and be by herself. "What do you think about it Hope?" Hermione asked making Hope jump. "About what?" Hope asked and then continued "I was thinking sorry."

"That's alright we were talking about who will be the new defense aginst the dark arts teacher." Harry said for Hermione flashing her a smile. Hope smiled back at him trying to get rid of the paranoid feeling that someone knew what she was doing here and replied while really avoiding the subject. "Oh, I don't know. It will probably be someone I don't like but like I said I'm from Alaska so I wouldn't really know." "Yeah, I'm sure they couldn't be any worse than some of the other teachers we have had." Ron exclaimed laughing with the rest as they told her about all the horrible teachers they had the past six years. Hope had almost forgotten why she was here until Hermione told her they needed to change into their robes and Hope panicked. What if I don't have any of those ,she thought, they definatley won't think I'm normal then.

Hope was pissed off how could they expect her to go along with this. This was a whole different society she wouldn't even last in her own world what made them think she could accomplish this. She wasn't a witch or wizzard or anything like that. She was just experiment 314 who was striving toward a goal in which she had no hope of acomplishing. Hope sighed wondering how she was going to explain this to these people. She didn't think of them as friends in fact she didn't even know what a real friend was. Hope always had to look after herself in this horible world of pain and hunger and loss thats all she had ever known and would probably always know. She saw the the world as it was and she knew that all of the things she had seen and experienced would follow her the rest of her days.


	2. Observing the trio

Authors note: Hello this is my second chapter of The great war. Umm, I hope that this was clear in the first chapter but I just wanted to be sure that you knew that there will be no Max and the flock in this story. Also I want to thank my dad for some of the following ideas. He is a great inspiration to me.( Oh great, now I really do sound like a writer!) Also like in my other stories I am apologizing for my horrible spelling.

Disclaimer: Do you all really think I would be on this website if I owned any of the people and/or places in this story?

Hope opened her trunk nervously and was suprised to find out that the Eraser had indeed been right there was a number of items in there and Hope noticed right away that there were robes sitting right on top. Eager to change out of the clothes she had been hurridley changed into in the rush to get her out and into the Itex car loaned to the Eraser named Hayden. Hope shuddered as she thought about him. Hope had been told immediatly what her reward would be if she succeeded in her mission, which at the time she had no clue what that mission was, and then the two experiments were gone. Erasers were the only ones given names it was because they were the ones that actually did all the real dirty work and they were the most trusted. For example, Erasers were the ones that guarded and captured escaped prisoners not that a prisoner ever really escaped. They also helped the 'doctors' during torturous experiments. Hope had heard rumors that there were people that had escaped and lived through the next however so many years before their deadline came but she didn't see how. Of course, Hope had grown up in one of the most well known and most guarded Itex companies in the world and wouldn't know about other smaller places like The School. Hope ran her mind over the possibilty of actually being free and it made her mouth water actually water as if someone had just placed a five star meal in front of a starving man. She quickly tried to erase these thoughts for fear of losing her sanity and not having it in check for the time being. Hope looked at herself in the mirror of the girls lavatory, as the british called it, and frowned wondering if she looked more like her mother or her father. Hope was a very good looking girl even she recognised it and she had never had a high self-of-steam. What with her golden brown eyes that sparkled even though she felt horrible, the high cheekbones, curves, everything about her was exceptionally attractive. Hope looked at her auburn colored hair which had been brushed before she had left the facility and noticed that it was yet agian messy. Hope searched through her trunk and noticed at the very bottom not only a brush but a little box. Snatching up the box she ripped it open finding as she had guessed a small earpeice which she quickly placed inside her ear. If she was going to do this she needed help and she needed it badly. After she made it comfortable for the inside of her ear she grabbed up the brush and yanked it through her curly hair until it hung in fuzzy curls to the small of her back. She sighed and swung open the doorway were she found a little line of girls forming around the place. Hope reached behind her and grabbed her clothes and her trunk then made her way through the line of girls who were all giving her strange looks. A sweat broke out on Hope's forehead and she quickly masked her face to show no sign of fear only a type of calmness that radiated from her body and made any suspicious people who might be watching look away. Hope made her way back to her compartment in a daze. Not realizing until she was nearly to her compartment that she was being followed. Flipping around she came face to face with a boy with white blond hair that seemed to shine as he passed under the lights that shone on the two. "Can I help you?" She asked rudely trying to make him leave as soon as possible. The boy only smirked at her and tutted saying "Now you shouldn't talk to a Malfoy like that." He was staring at her intently his eyes narrowing as he took in her accent which had an american ring to it. "You aren't from around here are you?" He asked in an accusing tone reminding Hope of an eraser as he stared at her waiting impatiently for her answer. Hope panicked feeling the sweat come back and she did the only thing she could think of... run. She turned on her heel and marched down the hallway the Malfoy boy close at her heels nearly yelling at her for walking away from him this caused quite a commotion which Hope had longed to avoid. People's compartment doors swung open from both sides of the hall and Hope noticed that her compartment had too. First Hermione's head popped out then Harry's and finally Ron's and Ginny's. Watching the people she knew only for a moment pull out their sticks or wands or whatever witches and wizzards used and point them at the blond kid who froze on the spot. Hope felt tension in the air that started to waft its way through all of the kids whose eyes grew wide with fright as they listened to the taunts the boy and Harry were throwing each other. Eventually the blond boy sniffed and turned on his heel throwing a glance that made her queasy in Hope's direction. Harry straightened up from his defensive positon and smiled at Hope who looked at her feet as the rest of the people subsided back into their own little worlds completely oblivious to the nervousness that boy had made her feel. No one said anything to her though she could feel them staring as she leaned her head agianst the window feeling the cold glass press on her cheek as she peered out at the gorgous senery that occupied the flush and healthy looking area. This is what its like to be outside and she suddenly had the urge to get off the train and skip barefoot through the high grass and the trees she thought of her parents in which she had only vague memories of and no matter how hard she tried she could never see them not even in a dream. What will it be like to have a family she thought dreamily picturing herself and a beautiful couple hugging her and telling her how much they loved her. Hope's eyes blurred and she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Hope had always kept her emotions to herself she had never had a person to talk to a person she could tell about everything so she hid behind a mask of calm. One that she used nearly all of the time. Hope wiped away the tears inconspicuously on the sleave of her robe. She tore her eyes away from the window unable to look out at the bright sunny day that didn't fit how she felt at all. Hope instead advirted her gaze to the person sitting across from her. Harry, that was his name Hope gave a small weak smile to him and he smiled back. Harry turned away a moment later to listen to something Ginny said and Hope took this time to look over the four teens. Hermione was first she was short with shoulder length extremely curly frizzy hair that bounced as she moved. Hope guessed that it would be a lot longer if it were straight. Hope wondered in the back of her head if it were possible for people to do that straighten their hair and she made it her mission to find out everything about the world she could before she found her parents. She didn't think they would appreciate a dumb daughter. Hermione also had brown eyes a light brown that glittered when she laughed. Hope noticed the way Hermione looked at the Ron boy and she couldn't understand it. It was a completely different look than the way she looked at the other two. Next Hope looked at Ron and the first thing she thought of was red. Ron's hair was an almost impossible shade of red and he had large shappire blue eyes that held a sort of mischivious gleam to them almost as if he were about to pull a huge prank that would make everyone burst out laughing. She could tell that he was the one in the group that loved fun the most. He seemed almost carelessly laid back. The true definition of free and he had that same look that Hermione had whenever he looked at his bushy haired friend. Hope couldn't figure it out so she moved on to Ginny. Ginny had a confidence that flowed out from her and made the others around her feel a type of bravery. Hope didn't really have words to describe it. Ginny was slightly taller than Hermione and had brown eyes like her only hers were darker almost like dark chocolate. Ginny was the type of girl, at least in Hope's opinion, that didn't take crap from anyone and Hope admired that about her. Next was Harry, Hope noticed right away the scar on his forehead and it's peculiar shape, a lightning bolt scar. Hope's curiousity sky-rocketed as she stared and suddenly Harry looked over as if senseing her gaze. Hope felt herself grow flustered and embaressed as Harry caught her staring. He had raven black hair that shone under the light and the most beautiful shade of green eyes she had ever seen. Maybe it was the kindness in them that was always present even if he looked suspicious of her or angery as he had been with the blond kid. Hope made a mental note to ask the boys name later. Harry's aura like Ginny radiated an energy that Hope couldn't explain. He was brave she could tell and selfless she had seen examples of these traits on the train. Hope drummed her fingers on her knee in a continuious rhythm as she heard a bodiless voice ring outside the compartment "We will be arriving at Hogwarts in a little under five minutes. Please leave all trunks on board for they will be brought to the school during the beggining of school feast. Thank-you." Hermione jumped up and grabbed her trunk off the rack swinging it open as she set it on the ground. Almost immediatley Hope noticed that the trunk was mainly filled with books the trunk was also completely organized everything had a place Hope realized. "Hermione what on earth are you doing?" Hope asked her not understanding why Hermione was grabbing the first book in the trunk. Hermione glanced up at Hope giving her a look as if she was nuts if she didn't know what she was doing. "I'm bringing a lite read for the ride in the carriage." Ron scoffed as Hermione showed Hope the enormous book that had to be way over one thousand pages. One the front of the book it said Wizzard monuments in the Muggle world by Lucillea Carmentine. Hope's eyes widened as Hermione started going on about how most of the oldest monuments in the muggle world were in fact created by wizzards. Ron and Harry laughed it off and told Hermione that she was going to give Hope a heart attack. This earned a glare from Hermione to the boys and she grabbed Hope's hand which made her flinch violently. This did not go unnoticed by either Hermione or Harry and the pair exchanged a look that Hope paid close attention to. Way to keep your cover Hope she thought slightly panicked she seemed to be doing that a lot at late. "Sorry, you startled me!" She said praying they would buy it and for a moment she thought they did but as they made their way to the carriges Hope noticed Harry and Hermione throwing glances at each other and then they would look at Hope in a courious and suspisious way. Great I've just made them more suspious Hope thought. "Hey, Hope!" Ron said suddenly as if he was remembering something important he forgot to say. Hope slowed down a tad bit and the other four caught up with her quickly. "Who was that guy? Ummm, what was his name? Hayden that's right!" Ron finished quickly and looked back at Hermione as if waiting to be scolded for his bluntness. Unfortunatley for Hope Hermione was just as curious as the other three teens. Seeing as she wasn't going to get out of this without giving an answer Hope racked her brain for a believeable lie. "Oh him? That is my cousin Hayden. Hes not very nice and only brought me to the station because my mom was busy and asked him to. My mom travels a lot with her job and she was leaving for Australia today. Sooo, is that it?" Hope said and the trio nodded quickly. Hope released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and got into the carriage the other four following close behind. Hope stared out the window trying to figure out a way to ditch these kids. You can't afford relationships Hope she thought to herself as the carriges started up and she took note of the strange creatures pulling it. Consumed in her schemes to get rid of the the golden trio and their tag along Hope wasn't paying attention to the four kids she was trying to ditch as they all thought the same thing. She is hiding something and I'm going to figure out what it is.


	3. Introduction to Hell

**Authors note: I don't really have much to say. Anyway here is the Third chapter of the Great War. I hope you all love it!!! Oh, before I forget. If this is not what Threstrels look like I will try to change it. I haven't read the books in a while **_**and **_** I'm trying to go with how they looked in the movie.**

The carriage ride was spent in silence. No one quite brave enough to break it though all of them, excluding Hope, had tried to think of a way to start a conversation with the seemingly shy girl. Hope spent her time gazing out at the land as the carriage rolled up the dirt path. Hope marveled at the sights of nature and especially the two things that were pulling the carriage. Hope had never seen anything like them in her entire life. Most would call them ugly but Hope didn't think that.

They had sort of a skeletal like quality and were extremely thin. They had a leathery looking texture to their skin and were light shades of grey. Hope watched as they moved in sync with each other at a graceful sort of trot. Hope was staring at them with a marveled expression on her face when suddenly she felt someone brushing agianst her shoulder lightly Hope jumped around quickly causing the whole carriage to shake and she came face to face with Ron. "Oh, sorry." She said at the baffled and wary expression on his face.

Ron seemed to think for a moment looking past her towards the window she was previously leaning out of. "Thats okay," he said after a moment his eyes still focused on something she wasn't seeing. "What were you looking at out there?" Ginny said in a snappy tone. "You were leaning halfway out the window, we were suprised you didn't fall!" The firey red-head continued a strange gleam in her eye, almost as if she were worried about her. But the look was gone as fast as it had come and Hope wondered if she had seen it in the first place.

Instead a look of waning patience was there on her freckled face. Hope looked around at the others and saw that she wasn't getting out of this one either. She sighed loudly almost annoyed by their worry. _I don't need them _she thought sourly as she thought of how much she should tell them. Hope decided after a minute of quick thought that she would tell them exactly what she had been looking at. I mean they had obviously seen them before, right? This was their school after all. "I saw..." Hope began but was cut off by the carriage giving a lurch forward and then it stopped moving altogether.

Suddenly the door swung open and Hope jumped out of the carriage but not before she got a cutting look from Hermione as if to say she would explain later. The five older teens walked to the doors but before they could get all the way to the doors the more experienced teens heard an audible gasp erupt from Hope as her stomach twisted at the beauty of the castle. She had never seen anything so elegant in her life. The old castle had a homy welcoming feeling almost as if she was coming home after a long days work. Hope fell in love with the school immediatly and her four new 'friends' for lack of a better word grinned at each other knowing that like them and so many others in the wizzarding world she had fallen in love with the school at first sight.

Hermione grabbed Hope's hand softer this time for she didn't want the girl to react the same way as last time(she was determined to figure out the reason behind this!) and pulled her through the doors where a portly man was waiting with some nervous looking eleven year olds. Hope assumed that these were the first years Hermione had told her about. Hope walked up to the man her nervous face hidden behind her mask as always. The man smiled at her and pulled a clip board up to his face studying it for a moment and then glanced over the top staring at her. "I can assume that you are Hope Ridgewell, am I correct?" Hope nodded and smiled politley at the man, she guessed that this was to be her temporary name, and he gave her a bright smile back.

Hope listened to his opening speech with rapt attention as did the other little first years. Hope of course felt very stupid for she stood out among the other children. Soon it was time for the sorting and Hope walked at the back of the line. She had been informed that she would be sorted last so that the headmistress could announce her arrival. The first years were sorted slowly and the 'sorting hat' as it was called certainly took its sweet bloody time. Eventually the supply of first years ran out and the headmistress stood up walking to the podium.

This caused a stir in the audience there was still on more person standing but she looked way to old to be a first year. Was this a new teacher? Surley not every spot at the teachers table was filled. Minerva Mcgonagall cleared her throat loudly and every quiet mummering in the great hall cut off and everyone was giving her their full attention. "This year, we have a new student from Alaska in the United States. Hope Ridgewell!" This caused even more mummerings Hogwarts hadn't ever had an exchange student before. All of the children shifted in their seats lightly suddenly very uncomfortable. Hope moved up the isle towards the sorting hat and the whispers drifted off each person wanting to see _this _particular sorting.

Even the tiny little muggle-born first years knew that this was big. Hope sat on the stool and put the large hat on her head. Wincing when she heard a tiny voice in the back of her head whisper softly... _Well I see Elena and Nathaniel did have a child! I have been waiting for you. Ahhh, so your here for a reason. _Hope stiffined, he knew! he could tell somebody! In the audience Hermione crossed her fingers and squeezed her eyes shut. Saying Griffindor over and over in her head. Hermione liked this girl and wanted to be a friend to her she also couldn't help but want to know more about this girl and she had a feeling that the others did to._Don't worry I won't tell anyone. Not that I could anyway._ Hope relaxed slightly but was still quite wary of the old hat. _**How do you know about my parents? **_Hope thought suddenly.

A wave of happiness crashed over her and she thirsted to know more._** Can you tell me about them please? Were they brave? What did they look like? Were they madly in love?... **_A scilence filled her ears and she felt the hat droop. _I am sorry I can't tell you I have sworn my secrecy to every student but I will say that your parents were very good people__. _Hope felt her eyes water and prickle but she felt no tears fall and instead thought to the hat_** Well, guess you have to do what you have to do huh. Well lets just get on with this.**_ The hat didn't argue and instead started talking agian.___You have a dark past my child. But then agian a lot of people have graced these halls with their presence and had dark pasts._ Hope sighed out loud causing Hermione's finger to wrap around themselves tighter.

Hope looked down into her lap and studied her fingers as the old hat continued his speech._Let me see... Hahaha, you - my dear, are not a leader are you?You certianly proved that at eight years old__. _Hope grimaced at the memory it hadn't ended well. _But you have resourcefulness this is a very valuable trait in Slitherin you realize. Your a pureblood and a loner and you have a thirst for revenge you would fit in there. But let us see what else we have going on in this little head of yours... You have nerve and loyalty to those you deem worthy of it. But that is not a great many people is it miss Ridgewell?_Hope nodded and everyone in the great hall even the teachers were watching Hope carefully waiting with bated breath to see which house this girl would be sorted into.

_These are all qualities of Griffindor. You have intelligence and you are quick to learn things but nothing else really in common with the other two houses, mind you. In the end though miss Ridgewell the choice is not mine its yours__. _Hope opened her mouth to protest but shut it just as quickly. _**I can't. I don't really care actually. You know why I'm here I can't afford relationships. **__Ahhhh, so you have made your choice. Very well then._"I'll have to say... "Slitherin!". _Hope isn't a Slitherin she can't be. She isn't like them at all!_ Hermione thought as she watched Hope stand and silently turn and place the old tattered hat back on its rightful place. Then she turned on her heel and walked to the silent Slitherin table chewing on her thumb the whole way.

Hope plopped down in the seat nearest to the stage and stared straight ahead not even bothering to listen to the headmistress even though she knew she should have. Hope was slightly disapointed that she was placed in Slitherin but knew that this is what she needed in order to get through this mission.

She felt a wave of dispair as she realized how risky this whole operation was and knew that she was going to be up many nights in her time here. Catching up on all she missed was going to be hard, but the white coats -the name for the 'doctors' at Itex and The School- had made sure that Hope was a 'well-functioning' experiment and could therefore adapt easily to her sourroundings. They might not have fiddled with her DNA but they might as well have. Hope was put through many physical and mental strains as well as surgeries. Hope shuddered at the thought of those cold dreaded metal tables. Many times one kid would die and then they would wheel in the next throwing the dead kid's body in a bin so they could be 'disposed' of later. Hope had experienced this one to many times. Kids at the Itex facility rarely ever talked except when they had to and **Nobody **ever talked to another unfortunate soul. The whole idea of ever getting close to someone and then losing them made the entire population of the building shake in fear. Thats why children looked after themselves and no one else. And the only way to survive is to be though.

Of course, some children took this to an extreme. They pure broke out into fights as soon as the cage door opened, this led to an injection of sedative that put the 'troubled experiment' to sleep. Hope was not one of these people but she did throw a few jibes at a white-coat or an eraser a few times. Usually if it was an eraser this earned her a kick in the gut but the white-coats didn't agknowledge anything she said. This outraged Hope, in fact she would almost rather get kicked than ignored. At least the erasers knew what they were doing to these kids. The sickos that actually did the surgeries treated them like lab-rats not living breathing human beings. Which, Hope realized, thats what we are to them.

Suddenly Hope heard the entirety of the hall start talking agian and food appeared in front of her on the long stretched out table. The smell of delicious food wafted its way towards Hope and she immediatlely dug in to the first things her hands could touch. She was determined to try everything on the table it seemed. Hope didn't hear the snickering of the girls around her until one of them leaned over in her ear and whispered "hungery much?" Hope stopped suddenly and she realized that some of the people at her table were starting to stare. Immediatley she turned beat red but only pulled her plate closer examining the colors and the textures of the meat and vegtables she had dumped in a heap onto her plate. Slowly one by one the people stopped staring and went back to their meals.

Hope watched the girl in front of her as she carefully ate. Fork up, careful portioning, put in mouth, put fork down, chew, swallow, sip of drink easy enough Hope thought as she copied the girls movements. She raked her eyes over the girls neatly pulled back hair and the way she held her shoulders in a confident way as if to say 'I am ten times better than anyone in this room. Now praise me for it.' And as her gaze moved away from the girl and down the table she realized that this was the way everyone at this table looked. Hope straightened her back and took her elbows off the table. Then she yanked her hair from around her face and threw it behind her head tucking it neatly in her ear and finally flattening out her robes with her hand, tugging at the lint that clung to it.

Satisfied with her apperance, for now, Hope went back to silently eating being sure to copy those movements. She hoped that she didn't appear in any way messy but she knew that compared to these other girls she was nothing. She was just a waste of space. In fact looking at these other girls made her confidence drop two or three notchs. Hope had always thought that she was pretty good-looking and she was. She had all of the features that made a beautiful girl. But there was something about these girls that made them all the more lovely and Hope, for the love of her life, could not figure out what that was. Soon it was time to go to the common room and Hope followed the crowd of Slitherins sometimes jogging to keep up with them as they made their way down the stairs and threw twists and turns.

She made sure to keep track of trail from the Great Hall to the common room, which as she entered made her gasp in slight awe. Like the strange horse things earlier, most would find this room creepy in its gloom and eerie green glow but Hope felt an unexplained comfort. She couldn't imagine ever being in an underground room full of people and feel this comfortable but she did. Hope took her time to take in the room before her and all of its elegance. The room had a silver and green theme and there were flags everywhere and on those flags were 's' shaped serpents that were a deep forest green color.

The couches and chairs and love seats around her were also that same forest green color and the walls too. But as she looked down at the floor she saw a dark type of silver carpet that she knew was soft even before she touched it with her bare feet. There was a silver fireplace on one wall and green flickering lights right above her head. The whole room was dark and therefore made the whole room look darker. Hope was sure that if the room was lighter the colors of the floor and walls would be lighter also but she also realized that this was probably the way it was ment to look. Dark, Hope had never really had a dark nature but considering her childhood she had done things that she wasn't proud of.

Was she dark? Hope shook her head and glanced around the room and something or someone in the corner made her stomach drop. The blonde boy on the train, Malfoy she remembered his last name being, but what was his first. Hope's couriosity died as she also remembered the look he had given her on his departure from the hallway of the train. I'll have to stay away from him she thought to herself as she followed an older looking Slitherin girl up the stairs.

****

Hope stood outside the door marvaling at the bronze plaques that were on the door. It listed each girls name in curvy handwriting. Hope ran her fingers over the names tracing the letters and staring at her awed expression in the reflecting dark rectangles. When she finally got to the bottom she traced her name the slowest, making sure to follow each curve and line to perfection.

She, of course, had been taught to write at the Itex facility. The children and young adults residing there weren't completely uneducated. They were weapons as well as experiments. Hope had heard whispers that sucessful experiments that learned to follow orders and do as their told where sometimes sent away to war. A super human among mere mortals. Trained to be the perfect soldier these 'experiments' were perfect fighters skilled in both kinds of attacks, ones where you use weapons and ones where you don't. They were quick on their feet and saved many of their comrades lives while on the field. But these men were rare and unique. Most people didn't make it through the first stage of the training.

Hope sighed and moved her hand sliding it down the door to the golden handle, then she took a deep breath and pushed the door open smiling gently as she heard the click that followed the push and suddenly she was standing in the threshold staring at the giggleing girls that were on various beds along the wall. Hope stood there shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other suddenly afriad to enter the room. One of the girls head shot up suddenly and she smiled at Hope, no not smiled... smirked at Hope and Hope tilted her head down her hair flowing over her shoulders and into her face blocking the view of the girls.

"Well, are you going to come in newbie or are you going to just stand there like an idiot?" Another girl said quite rudely making Hope blush violently. She nodded and walked in the room going to a vacant bed and sitting down. "So, your name is Hope right?" The girl said and Hope nodded. After that the girls burst into a peal of giggles mummering to each other in hushed tones. Hope blocked them out as she noticed her trunk sitting in the corner closest to her bed. Hope hopped off the creaky bed and grabbingher trunk determined to put her things away and read a few of her books after all the girls went to bed and were fast asleep lost in their own worlds. Hope threw the trunk on her bed and swung it open pulling out a beige set of pajamas.

She then climbed into her bed and drew the curtains. Just as she was about to remove her shirt she heard one of the girls call out "Why are you hiding from us, we are all girls its not like we care. Nor are we going to look at you!". Hope let out an exasperated sigh thinking about the reason why she hid from all the girls. Things happened at Itex, whether it was punishment from the erasers or a long days physical training things happened and Hope had the evidence to prove it.

Long scars and other markings to prove her body's constant work to heal itself and leave her unblemished. Of course, she also had her serial number across her neck but that was only visable if she flipped her hair over her head. But they all would know something was up with her if they saw the scars and the markings that covered her body.

Instead of replying to the girl she chose to ignore her and was thankful when they didn't rip the curtains back. Hope didn't like these girls, not one bit. She felt a great disdain for them and found herself wishing that they would all disapear. Hope raked her fingers through her hair feeling the knots but chooseing to ignore them and plopped down onto the soft mattress. It was soft and the covers where warm and inviting.

Hope settled down hoping to be peaceful for once in her life. Hope told herself that as soon as the other girls where asleep she would start to study all that she didn't know. But as one by one each girl floated into peaceful oblivion Hope's eyes grew more and more heavy and soon she couldn't fight it anymore. She closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep of which she had only the comfort of being free at last to keep the evercoming nightmares at bay.

**Authors note: Okay, I like this chapter a lot. I don't know why I just love Hopes character. Um, I just wanted to let you know that I realize that muggle devices do NOT work in Hogwarts. But I'm thinking about making an exception for this story. Maybe or Maybe not. Write me a quick review if you can telling me if I should or not. Hope you all liked this chapter. Oh, and I just want to warn you that MANY embarassing things are about to come up for poor Hope.**


	4. Different

Authors note: Hey people! Okay just so that you don't flame me I know that Slitherin dorms are under ground. Though in this story the common room is under ground and the dorms are above ground. I thought that it would be cool and it is vital to later chapters. Thank-you! Also some of the characters names in this fanfic are really weird!=)

Disclaimer: Honestly haven't we been through this a million times! I hereby claim no rights to Harry Potter, Maximum Ride or whatever I shall write in the future. It is under copyright and I do not want to go to prison. Thanks!

Hope awoke even before the crack of dawn and for a long time stared out of the window as she watched the brilliance of the sunrise for the first time. First the stars one by one seemed to disappear and soon she could see the tip of the sun on the horizon. The sky turned a brilliant shade of pink and orange and red and Hope's eyes watered at the beauty and warmth it provided inside her heart.

Soon enough the girls rose from their peaceful slumbers and each giggled and sneered at her as they walked past. Hope simply ignored them and their pointless attempt to get at her as she climbed out of bed her bare feet not making a sound as they landed on the stone floor. She cursed herself as she realized her mistake. She had gotten to comfortable last night and fallen asleep. Crap, she thought to herself, How on earth am I going to survive my first day of classes.

Silently she swung open her trunk and peered in noticing the huge stack of books and she immediately remembered her schedule one of the teachers had given to her just before she left the dining hall the previous night. Perfect she thought as she grabbed it and scanned it quickly. It said...

Monday: 1. History of magic 2. Charms 3. Care of magical creatures

Tuesday: 1. Transfiguration 2. Divination 3. Defense against the dark arts(DADA)

Wednesday: 1. Defense against the dark arts(DADA)(second half)

Thursday: 1. Double potions

Friday: studies (12:00p.m)

Saturday: (second half) (second half)

Sunday:none

Hope dug through her books scattering them across the floor as the last girl went out the door to breakfast. Ahh, here it is she thought. "History of magic: the past five centuries! By: Jeston Browell" the title read. Hope grabbed the small black bag that was currently sitting in the bottom of the trunk and stuffed in that book as well as "Charms vol. 7: Advanced By: Druena Anazi" and several other books and then she set out on the memorized path to the Great Hall.

Wandering the corridors she traced her steps being sure to commit each step to memory so she could find her way a whole lot faster. She reached the Great Hall in record time in her opinion and avoided the eyes of her fellow students as she made her way to the half empty Slitherin table. Hope had to restrain herself from digging in the moment she set eyes on all the delicious food as her new table came into full view.

Instead she copied another girl and flattened out her skirt with one hand and gently sat down on the bench smoothing out her hair and fixing wrinkles in the otherwise iron straight blouse. Hope carefully pulled out her book and set it on the table, being sure to keep the title from view, and then settled in to read the considerably large Charms book.

Hope skimmed over every word but paid close attention to all of the swishing and flicking of the wand. Gradually Hope found herself falling in love with all of the magical possibilities. She ran her eyes over the page absorbing the information like a sponge and committing it to memory.

To soon though breakfast was over and it was time for her first class of the year. She glanced around completely confused and it dawned on her that she was going to have go ask for help. Hope looked around and her eyes immediately locked on a group she had deemed the 'Glorious quartet' and before she knew what she was really doing she was walking towards them.

They looked shocked as she stopped completely In front of them "Hi," she whispered her voice barely audible. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that, well, I'm new and I-I don't have any idea on where to find History of magic and... um, no one in my house wants to help me. Uh, never mind I'll just figure it out on my own." then she turned on her heel and walked away shyly. Hope didn't know why she was so shy all of the sudden for at Itex she was one of the bravest the smartest and the most well 'put together' experiments in the organization.

She walked slowly pondering this mystery in her head but before she even got ten feet away the quartet had jumped to her aide. "No, we can help." Hermione said shooting Ron a look that clearly said 'no protesting'. Though Ron seemed perfectly at ease and was watching Hope with what looked like interest and curiousness. "You said you were looking for history of magic right?" Harry added staring directly into her eyes as if looking for sincerity. "Um, yes that is exactly what I was looking for." Hope didn't like how he did that, the feeling he gave her made her feel compelled to answer him even if she didn't want to talk at all.

Harry nodded and Hermione said that she would show her because it was her duty as head girl. They split up about halfway to the class everyone going a different way. Harry and Ron to Transfiguration, Ginny to 5th year Charms, and Hermione leading Hope towards History of magic.

Hermione smiled at her as they stopped outside a big brown door that had intricate swirly designs on it and a plaque that read History of magic on it. Hope flashed her a brief smile that came out more as a grimace and pushed the door open making her way to the back corner of the classroom to get away from all the curious gazes that were thrown her way.

From what she understood she was the first Hogwarts transfer they had had in years if not ever. Hope avoided their gaze as she pulled out one of the ink bottles and a quill pen as well as a muggle notebook. Hope flipped it open basking in the smell of the lined paper as the cover flipped open and dipped her quill in the ink.

Hope wrote the word 'Charms' at the top of her paper and then started writing down the memorized incantations and wrist movements of the 'wand'. Hope knew that these notes where not only for herself but for the scientists to even though they had already probably scanned the Charms books cover to cover. She realized that the majority of her year would be spent taking notes that she would at some point be giving to the 'doctors'.

Hope's attention was cut short though as she heard the words "Good morning professor Binns." in a series of monotone voices. Hope had been informed by Harry that you didn't do much in History of magic and most people spent the majority of their time on this class either sleeping or working on work for another class.

Hope wrote down each spell she thought she would need for charms, defense and transfiguration and decided to practice them a little after this class. Hope vowed that she would be as good as the average Hogwarts student she just hadn't figured out how yet. Hope multi-tasked listening to the ghost professors speech and jotting down wand movements for different classes spells.

It seemed the class was over before long and Hope followed the other students out the door. She planned on asking someone how to get to the library but a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. "You mudbloods shouldn't be allowed in this school. All of you are worthless!" She heard the whimpering of a kid and she peeked around the corner of the wall where she was hiding.

Hope watched as the Malfoy kid pushed the young boy once, twice, three times and she watched as the kid rocked on the third suddenly his balance was lost and he was falling.

Hope watched in slow motion as the kid rolled in midair trying to protect the back of his head but as he landed Hope heard a sickening crunch and she knew that a bone had been broken. Hope stared at him not quite sure what she should feel as the kid let out a blood curdling scream.

Malfoy's eyes widened and he fled the scene quickly casting a quick golden light from his wand at the boy. Hope vaguely wondered what spell he had used but put it out of her mind as she trained her gaze on the now crying kid no emotion showing on her face though confusion was spreading from every part of her body.

She stepped out from behind the wall clutching her books to her chest and walked down the stairs coming to a complete stop as she reached she boy's side. Something flickered inside her as she watched him cry softly. Moaning the word 'help' over and over.

She leaned over and picked up his books, ignoring the flicker that continued to grow stronger, glancing on the inside to see the name written in messy cursive. Hope closed each book slowly memorizing the titles and trying to remember if she had any of these.

Realizing that she did she threw them down. She couldn't help but be disgusted with herself and she couldn't understand why. Hope stood there looking down at the boy letting down her barriers and letting the confusion roll out of her body in waves. What was this she was feeling. It was so... different.

Hope was so lost in another one of her reveries that she didn't hear the footsteps until they were about five feet behind her and when she turned she saw Hermione staring in shock.

Hope opened her mouth then closed it and she only felt the air moving as Hermione rushed over to the boy suddenly, being careful to avoid his arm as she lifted him into sitting position and looked over his broken limb frowning deeply.

Then her head shot up to Hope a glare mixed with a saddened expression forming in her eyes and said in a high pitch, no funny business tone "What happened to him?". Hope flinched at the look in Hermione's eyes. "I-uh-I It was Malfoy! I came around the corner and he pushed him down the stairs. I swear Hermione! You... please believe me!"

Hope didn't know why she was so bent on Hermione talking to her. In fact it was probably best if she didn't but the thought of the four teenagers that had been nice to her NOT talking to her anymore made Hope queasy.

Hermione stared at her for a moment then nodded her head picking up the shaking eleven year old and hauling him off in the direction she just came signaling to Hope to follow her. Hope hesitated for a moment before following glancing at the place Malfoy had just disappeared and bowing her head in shame.

Hermione Granger's thoughts had been confirmed something was strange about Hope and Harry and Ron knew it too. Although Hermione had known from the very beginning. The look in her eyes had shown pain, a huge amount of pain and she blocked it well.

If the trio weren't so good at reading people they might have believed that Hope was a perfectly happy normal teenager. She's haunted Hermione thought as she sat at dinner that night. She had continued to watch Hope for the rest of the day and she seemed... off.

Hope struck Hermione as a person with way to much weight on her shoulders like she was carrying a huge burden and Hermione felt the same way about her that she felt about Harry when they met on the train 7 years ago.

Pity and a deep need to help, but also a curiousness that ran deep inside her and fueled her know-it-all attitude. She knew that whatever Hope was experiencing it was bad really really bad, and Hermione wasn't going to stop pushing until she had all the answers. She could always sense when someone was different.

"Don't you think it's just a little strange Mione? I mean she shows up here after seven years and if you haven't noticed she seems completely out of it. Ron and me have been watching her all day and there is absolutely something there that screams 'I have a big secret'." Harry ranted that evening.

He, Ron, and Hermione had been up late discussing the usual problems/solutions/etc. and the topic of Hope came up. Hermione explained in full detail what she had seen in the hall and so far Harry had only come up with two solutions on the subject.(Ron had remained surprisingly silent the whole day.)

A. she was a deatheater or B. She was a deatheaters daughter sent here to spy. Hermione sighed unnerved at his immediate assumptions and sat down her textbook she had previously been reading. "Listen Harry, we can't just assume she's a deatheater without looking at all the facts. I mean you were fine with her before its not like she's a different person because she didn't help the kid in the hall. I mean, we all know that that was wrong but that doesn't mean she has some plot to destroy us all. Maybe we should just watch her for a while. Then after we look at all the evidence we can judge her. She seemed really upset after I found her in the hall." Hermione said her peace in a careful voice knowing that Harry could go into one of his moods in seconds and also because she wanted to get to know this girl, figure her out and most of all help her and she couldn't do that if her friends didn't cooperate.

He sighed and plopped on the couch next to Ron who had been staring into the fire for several minutes. "Ron?" Hermione said in a concerned tone. This seemed to snap him out of his thoughts because he looked up from the fire and 'hmmm'ed. "What do you think?" Harry said looking over at his best mate of seven years. Ron took a deep breath and glanced at the fire once again.

"Harry, I think Hermione is right. Did you see the way she was staring out the window last night. It was like she craved to be anywhere but here or how she seemed, I don't know, lost. I mean most kids that come here that aren't nervous eleven year-olds anyway crave time at Hogwarts. Even exchange students I'm sure. And did you see the way she looked in some of our classes today she looked mystified by magic. Once you have seen it and gotten used to it don't you think you wouldn't act that way anymore. She seemed terrified of the crowds. I don't even know why she got into Slitherin. I mean don't you think that it would be a little strange if a deatheater came to Hogwarts and didn't know a thing about magic and didn't act all high and mighty all the time. I mean they would never stoop so low. Maybe Hermione is right. Maybe we should just watch her for a while and not try to judge her so much."

Hermione's mouth fell open, that had to be the longest speech she had ever heard Ron make and she found herself wanting to kiss him at the moment for his sudden burst of sensitivity.

Harry seemed to have the same reaction(Minus the kissing part!) his mouth fell open and he thought that this was the longest speech Ron had ever said that had even an ounce of real logic behind it. Harry always could tell that Ron was smart but he didn't show it enough. He always played sidekick. A role Harry himself never wanted Ron to own.

"Well," Harry muttered playing with a button on his shirt. "fine we will wait and see. But I still think she's different." He finished rising along with Ron and disappearing up the stairs to his dormitory. "So do I Harry. So do I." Hermione said to the air before disappearing out the common room and to her new Head Girl chambers that she shared with none other than Draco Malfoy.

Hope closed her eyes that night in bed and sighed. Today she had experienced emotions she never knew existed. Guilt,confusion, and several others even she couldn't name. And there were also thing Hope didn't understand for the life of her. This she couldn't help but ponder over inside her mind for the past few hours. Like when Hermione found Hope in the hall with the boy she had looked at her with such contempt and then sadness.

Hope had gone over the scene over and over in her mind and she couldn't understand why Hermione had rethought her immediate reaction. She couldn't understand why she talked to her afterwards when what she did was so obviously wrong in the Head Girl's eyes. But the thing Hope didn't understand most of all was what she did in the first place.

Well she didn't understand what she did wrong until Hermione asked her about the boy after they dropped him off at the hospital wing. Never in her life had she ever helped another human being. It just didn't happen ever! Hope helped herself and no one else she learned that lesson at an early age.

Fortunately, the rest of the day went smoothly. Teachers didn't ask her questions today and she was allowed to sit at the back of the class to watch but she was still completely caught up in the lessons taking notes constantly.

Hope made sure to continue her ritual of reading between classes at all times and by the end of classes she knew all the basic charms, transfiguration, and defense spells.(At least movements of the wand and the incantations)

Hope had also had a student show her the library directly after dinner, determined to practice her spells at least once today, and she sat in the direct corner of the library, the darkest also, and pulled out her wand. Slowly she ran her finger over the smooth wood and a thrill ran through her fingers. Then she aimed it directly at the small paper clip sitting on the table in front of her and she said the incantation as loud as she could without being overheard.

But nothing happened. She had sighed and sat the wand down tapping her fingers on the desk in a steady rhythm darum-darum-darum. She sat there for several minutes, before picking up the wand again and saying the words for the second time. "Wingardium Leviosa!" But like before nothing happened.

Hope had tried this for several minutes that quickly turned to an hour before a miracle happened. Just as she was about to give up Hope tried one last time, pushing with her mind and willing the paper clip to rise off the table. And to her utter surprise and amazement she was able to lift it into the air with some difficulty.

She remembered the grin that had spread across her face when she had finally done it but she also knew that if she was going to become good enough to fit in and remain unnoticed she was going to have to practice. And practice she would, because this wasn't just for her this was for her family and all of their futures. She was determined not to be... different.


	5. Draco's secret

A/N: Hey guys, first of all I want to thank my first reviewer, Mourningstar13. She is super awesome for reviewing and so I am dedicating this chapter to her. Oh, first person to review on any of my other stories will get a dedicated chapter to. SO REVIEW! Anyway thanks for reading this chapter. P.S: Thoughts will now be in brackets! P.S.S: Please don't hate me for flying through Hope's first week!

Diclaimer: Me: Okay, this is REALLY! starting to annoy me!

Hope: Just do it so we can get on with the story!

Me: No absolutely not, I refuse! =(

(Hope stares with sad puppy dog look)

Me: Awe, don't give me that look!

Hope: I don't get my happy ending?

Me: Who says I have one planned? Oh, fine! I hereby claim no rights to Maximum Ride, Harry Potter, or anything I'll write in the future! =(

(Hope snickers!)

The first week at Hogwarts was an easy one for Hope. Because the classes were split up the way they were she was permitted to watch each class for the first week just so she got the hang of it. She still wasn't quite sure how she was going to catch up after seven years of not knowing a thing about magic but she was determined to try.

Hope had continued to work on her spells everyday after dinner and soon she knew a great many of the first year spells. Only once had she tried a seventh year spell and it had crashed and burned. Lets just say the result was the paper clip she practiced on caught on fire. Hope remembered on her second day there all the Eraser had said on the platform and had taken up sketching secret passageways and exits to the school she could find (Although the secret passageways weren't so secret anymore.). Memorizing the hallways and scoping out corridors for secret rooms. And although she was new she was still given the ultimate pain in the butt in her opinion, homework. Hope had been given homework just like all the other students and she relied solely on her books and the library's books.

Hermione, Harry, Ron, and even Ginny she realized were also watching her. Hermione was a little more subtle about it but all the same she was still staring and it irritated Hope to no end. Often she found herself wanting to give them something to stare at but all the same kept quiet about it.

"Hey Hope!" she heard and as she looked up she saw none other than young Ginny Weasly. "Hi," Hope whispered focusing back on her paper with newfound enthusiasm. "Um," Ginny said looking slightly nervous and nothing like the spitfire read-head she was on the train and the carriage ride to the castle. Hope filed this at the back of her head for later evaluation and gave an exasperated sigh dropping her quill on the table and looking up at Ginny with an expectant gaze.

Hope pushed all other emotions out of her head and settled on two she hoped would send Ginny scurrying to where ever she was going, annoyance and disdain. Ginny didn't seem to catch on and Hope soon found the young teen sitting across from her. "I was just wondering what you where doing in the back of the library all by yourself." Ginny said with a small smile and she hummed an upbeat tune as she pulled out her notebooks and textbooks.

Hope stared at her for a moment trying to figure out her reason for talking to her and seeing nothing sneaky let herself open up a little. Hope followed Ginny in the humming and tried to follow the tune to the best of her ability. Ginny looked up from her work and grinned, setting down her quill she asked, "You like the weird sisters too?". Hope found herself nodding even though she had never heard of the weird sisters before. "I love their music especially their song 'magic works'. Don't you?" Hope simply nodded again and went back to her work never talking but taking occasional glances at Ginny who seemed to be doing the same.

"You don't talk much do you?" Ginny asked fifteen minutes later as Hope finished the essay she had in Transfiguration. "No, I don't." Hope answered in a tone that screamed finality, pulling out the next essay she had to finish and reading over it checking what she already had. She growled in annoyance when Ginny started talking more. [Does this girl ever shut up?] Hope thought as she drummed her fingers on the table silently begging in her mind for silence.

"...Anyway you are such a studier just like Hermione. I mean she is always doing some sort of work and it is so annoying when I try to talk to her. No offense to you or anything it's just that it is hard to have a conversation when you feel like a persons not listening, you know?" Ginny said and then stood up abruptly grabbing her stuff and shoving it in the bag. "Oh, theres Dean. So I have to go now he is supposed to help me with potions! I really hate Slughorn. I'll see you later Hope it was fun to talk to you!" Hope nodded and went back to her essay, offering no goodbye to Ginny as she nearly sprinted over to Dean frowning the whole way there.

Dean looked at Ginny in concern asking what was wrong but she only shook her head. Hermione had told her a few mornings ago at breakfast that something was strange about Hope and now she knew there was. Ginny and Dean walked to lunch together and he told her that he would help with Potions later on in the common room. She nodded, not really listening to him as she kind of skipped/ran to where her brother and friends were sitting. She leaned over Hermione grabbing a piece of chicken off of her brother's plate and whispered in Hermione's ear as she moved away, "I'm in!". Then she turned and walked back to Dean and one of her girl friends, Susan.

[Great,] Hermione thought, [we have one more person to help us figure Hope out.] she glanced up from her plate and cast a look in the Slitherin tables direction. [Still missing, I wonder how she gets her meals.] She thought raking a hand through her bushy frizzy hair and blocking out the boys nearby conversation on Quidditch. It was close to the end of lunch when Hope finally walked into the Great Hall. Hermione watched her slide into the nearest seat and if she hadn't been watching her so closely Hermione could almost say she disappeared into the sea of pureblooded Aristocrats.

Hope shoveled in food in a mannerly way so that no attention came to herself as she nearly inhaled the food. Normally she got up really early and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast and then she ate a lot so that she lasted all day until after dinner. She had followed a prefect to the kitchens and now ate there every night. She enjoyed the company of the house elves who were much like herself in the fact that they so longed to be free but were terrified of the fact of never being able to adjust to the outside world. So they clung to what they knew while silently waiting for society to make things right.

[And nothing ever happens.] Hope thought on the way to her next class. It was Friday, the last day of sitting out but Hope adjusted quickly and seemed to blend into crowds with ease. She only hoped that it was this ability that allowed her to remain unnoticed most of the year.

Hope (Unlike most of the students in this class) paid attention in Muggle Studies. But this time it wasn't for the scientists. This class was solely for her and her alone. Hope paid attention because she hoped that some sort of knowledge about the world she was so cruelly taken out of would help her in long run with not only her parents but in regular 'muggle' society. But obviously her parents weren't muggles they both had gone to this school according to the 'sorting hat'.

Hope was still skeptical about what the old tattered hat said though and so on her second day Hope vowed that she pay attention in both Muggle Studies and History of Magic so that when she finally did meet her parents she would not be completely clueless. Today for their first day back they were to review from last years last lesson on muggle technology. [Perfect,] Hope thought sarcastically [Thats something I know a little to much about.]. Then she tarted to scribble down facts on muggle cars. One time, at the age of six Hope read an entire book on cars. The white coat that gave it to her told her she might need the knowledge one day. "Although you won't get to go on a mission if you don't improve." The woman had explained.

Hope remembered the rage she had felt as she asked the woman questions and she had simply ignored her marking down 'experiment 314s' progress on her clip board. "Ahh, so you did cars did you?" Professor Harrel asked Hope looking down at the paper curiously. Hope nodded staring at the woman with a blank look on her face. "Are you muggle born?" she heard and she thought quickly on the subject. [Am I muggle born? I don't really know. But it would seem strange if I didn't know my own blood. Wouldn't it?] Seeing no other option Hope nodded carefully aware that she was one of only three Slitherins that were in this class. [I am going to regret that answer.] She thought glancing back down at her paper and doodling in the far right hand corner.

When class ended Hope grabbed her bag and handed the teacher her paper which was now covered in little doodles. Then she made her way out the door swinging the bag over her shoulder but once again she was held up from the library by the exact same person. Draco Malfoy, Hope had asked Hermione two days previous the boys name and Hermione told her not only his name but that he was trouble. Hope realized that this time there was no where to hide and that the three Slitherins where bound to notice her. But that wasn't what made her heart squeeze in fear. It was the words that came out of the fat ones mouth. "...said she was a muggle born." He said and as if she had flipped a light switch all three heads shot up just noticing her presence.

"Hello, mudblood!" Draco said snickering along with his friends at the name. "I believe you still owe me that chat you denied me on the train." He smirked at her and twirled his wand in his hand casually. "Hello Draco." Hope said avoiding his eyes and walking forward, trying to ignore him. "Hey who said we where on a first name basis Hope!" He said spitting her name out like it was dirt on the bottom of his shoes. Hope raised an eyebrow and turned around really looking at him for the first time and what she saw shocked her.

Expertly hiding the emotion she simply shrugged blowing him off as if he was nothing important just like he had done her and turned on her heel walking down the hall. She didn't get but five feet before the fat kid and the stupid looking one where planted in front of her. "Where do you think your going mudblood." Draco sneered as he grabbed her arm and flipped her around. Hope flinched at the contact but all the same stared directly into his eyes as he spoke. She was no longer afraid of him, as she had been on the train and in the hall just moments ago. She realized at that moment exactly where Draco stood and his stituation she mused was quite like her own she could tell by the look in his eyes.

"Tell me mudblood, tell me who exactly you think you are? Polluting the noble house of Slitherin with your dirty blood." Draco said in a commanding voice and to any other person he might have seemed serious but to Hope, she caught the look in his eyes the self doubt the catch in his voice when he insulted her and she knew that much like herself Draco didn't know himself. "You all are pathetic wastes of space." He continued laughing with his friends at her scilence, but then she spoke and only Draco knew that what she said was the truth.

"You don't mean it Draco." she whispered as she stared at him with an intensity that was slowly driving him mad. "You know you don't mean it." Draco stopped, his mouth halfway open with another childish insult. The silence lasted for several moments before Goyle spoke. "Come on Draco, what are you waiting for? Put her in her place she has no right to say anything to you." People as they passed by started to stare and a few even stopped to watch but Draco didn't notice as he hissed at his companions to stay silent.

This was his moment to prove to them that he was as against mudbloods as they were and Draco needed and craved acceptance. "What do you mean, mudblood? Of course I mean it. I wouldn't say it if I didn't." Once again Hope noted the catch in his voice and she spoke even before she knew what she was saying. "Of course you do. Is that why you are so hesitant to say each insult that passes through your lips. I know you Draco." Only he knew what she meant to the common everyday person everything she was saying was ridiculous.

To the common person she would be stark raving mad if she thought that Draco Abraxas Malfoy was anything less than the reincarnation of his deatheater father. Everyone knew, of course, that his father was a deatheater in fact he was sure that most of them had probably known for years. They just all chose to ignore it and remain in the dark until now. Until the year that Draco had made the biggest mistake of his life. And they probably would have stayed ignorant then if it hadn't been for Saint Potter and his band of bloody morons.

"You don't know me." He stated, even though every part of him was denying it. "But I know you mudblood. Weak, pathetic, stupid, ignorant little mudblood. That is all you are and ever will be. You and your kind should not be allowed to walk among the purebloods. Your entire race of muggle loving idiots are all you have to protect you to." Suddenly Draco moved a little closer to Hope whispering so that only she and his two idiots could hear, "And all of that is going to end, soon." and then he stepped back smirking in a self satisfied way before he heard her hiss her reply.

"You know Draco, where I'm from people with a mouth like yours often find themselves in...unpleasant situations." Draco's eyes narrowed at her but he found himself wondering where exactly she came from and what exactly she meant, but before he could ponder this over she leaned in even closer than he had and whispered so that only he could hear.

"Sometimes, you'll find, they don't even last the night." Draco stepped back from her mouth wide open and he ignored his idiots as they told him to put her in her place. He ignored them even as he whispered a 'let's go' and then he was gone, Crabbe and Goyle following along obediently but still completely confused.

Hope watched him go and she realized that she probably shouldn't have said what she did but she did not regret it. Then she turned on her heel throwing her head back like a real Slitherin and marched her way to the library barely hearing the praise of her fellow classmates as she did.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter is shorter than the past two. Also if any of you know Draco Malfoy's last name it would be REALLY helpful. I hope you all liked this chapter and I finally got to fit in some of Hope's more defensive nature. Please tell me what you think in a review and stay tuned for the next chapter in THE GREAT WAR! =)


	6. I don't belong here

**A/N: Hello guys I really hope you all like this chapter because it has taken me a LONG time to write. I am trying to come up with stuff I can fill the chapters with. I apologize for point of view changes because they might be slightly confusing. I haven't been giving any indication that the POV was changing and so you might have been kinda confused. Sorry! BTW I am sorry for my grammer mistakes!**

Hope's weekend had flown by to quickly and by Sunday evening she was in a full blown panic. She still didn't know all the spells she needed to master and the thought of being called out on her ignorance scared her. For the past three days Hope's nights were filled with terrible dreams. Dreams of her faceless parents being ripped out of her arms as the teachers and whitecoats gathered around and chanted about how she had failed.

The bags under her eyes were getting worse now that her nightmares had come back and she had nothing to hide them with. She knew that Hermione and the others noticed and that only intensified their need to scan her every move. Each took turns following her and eyeing her every move so Hope had taken her usual study time out of the library and into her dormatory where there was still little to no privacy.

So here she was practicing long after the other girls were asleep and she practiced well into the night continuing till dawn and even after considering the others were not awake yet. She waited until one of the girls stirred before she pulled herself out of bed and quietly dressed not quite wanting to see her reflection in the mirror.

Then she took off to breakfast which, because she had gotten there later than usual, had a lot more people than she was used to. She scarfed down the food not really noticing what she was putting in her mouth as she stared straight ahead of her.

After she finished breakfast she headed to history of magic and spent the entire hour going back on her vow to pay attention. She spent the whole class reviewing every single Chrams spell she could remember. When class ended Hope felt her face pale, and she joined the flow of students heading through the halls towards their next class.

Each looked incredibly happy to be chatting along side their friends as they glided through the castle oblivious to the distress she was feeling. Hope was jelous. That was the only thing she could feel as she stared at each calm happy face. The thing was they had everything she wanted and more still and they complained about it.

She couldn't understand how anyone could call a family member annoying when Hope pleaded with God to give her just two people to love her and offer her company. Hope despised the little Slitherin children she had seen who threw a fit every time their parents didn't but them something they wanted. They could have nothing, like she did, and how would they fare then?

Hope couldn't help but scoff at the idea of one of the little children being in her postition. [They know nothing.] she thought as she truged into the seventh year Charms class. Pressing on her ear the whole way to her desk.

Hope checked the ear peice that rested comfortably inside her ear apprehensively. Hermione had told her on her second day there that muggle thecnology did not work in the school. Hope's mind had raced and her heart had pounded loudly.

She remembered the panic that had flooded through her veins as the head girl uttered those foul words. Since that second day Hope had not touched the ear peice. Of course, she hadn't a use for it until today and so, just in case Hermione was wrong, Hope had put it in during her morning ritual of getting ready. Now that same feeling was back and Hope's heart pounded again as she pressed the small button at the very top, and then... static.

That was all that came out of the small earpeice. Hope stopped breathing and closed her eyes tight ignoring the small proffesor as he said a 'good afternoon' to the class. Suddenly the static grew softer and softer until it stopped. Hope tapped her ear, vaguley hearing the professor tell the class about the Charms spell on the board. Nothing happened, not one word came out of the ear peice. Hope waited for several moments despreately praying for a miracle.

But as each second ticked by Hope's wishing died a little and she felt even sicker than she had that morning. In an almost robotic way she pulled out her wand just like the others, pointed it at the wall just like everyone else, and she chanted the incantation in unison with the other people.

"Aguamenti!" The class screeched together and everyone's wand shot out a small jet of water that soaked the nearby wall. Well, everyone's wand but Hope's. Of course, most of the other people were to busy to notice her failure. All remained ignorant except Hermione Granger, who quickly informed the other two of the trio, and Professor Flitwick who had all of the sudden felt an `overwheming wave of pity directed at none other than Hope herself.

She could feel the strong emotion from halfway across the room and worry radiating from the small group of three that were now chattering to each other in hushed tones. Her face, to an outsider, must have seemed emotionless but on the inside her heart had picked up several notches and an unnoticable sweat broke out on her body.

She felt herself tense up and she looked around the room with nervous eyes each shadow forming an eraser holding two struggling adults. And each happy face morphed into an angry teacher telling her that she was to leave Hogwarts forever. Hayden's words echoed through her mind and pounded on her skull. Yelling at her about jepordizeing the mission and losing the one thing she so despreatly needed.

Hope suddenly felt very sick as the professor scribbled a note to himself and politely commanded the class to stop practicing the new charm. The room grew to small and she found herself gasping for breath chanting in her mind over and over that she had ruined it all and with that one failed spell destroyed everything she had longed for for so long.

Then she turned and made her way to the professor's desk her last string of hope faltering as she whispered to him in hushed tones. Flitwick gave Hope a concerned look but none the less waved her off telling her to take the rest of class off and before he even finished the sentence she was gone her panic and worry that had been building up for the past week erupting and making her want to scream her anger to the world.

She needed out and she needed it now. Hope didn't think as she made her way to the nearest exit she could find pushed her way through. She ignored the people she trampled over in her haste to feel the damp air that still smelled of the early morning rain. All she could hear was the pounding of her shoes as they clicked against the tile and then the brick and finally the wet grass.

Only when she could no longer see the bottom half of the school did she stop. Not even gasping for breath, she slumped against the nearest tree focusing on slowing her overworked mind from shutting down. [Pull youself together!] she thought to herself sharply as she pushed the Eraser's words from her head wanting nothing more than to retreat into her own subconscious and forget herself if only for a little while.

As she calmed Hope looked at her sourroundings and was mezmorized by the sheer beauty of nature. How any one person could not appreciate it astounded her. Slowly, as she calmed down all the way, she stopped leaning against the tree and made her way to the lake that sat right in front of her.

The sun cast a reflection on the water and blinded her with brilliant light as she made her way to the edge of water. No ripple disturbed the sleeping pool of water even as the leaves fell from the trees around her drifting lazily in midair until they landed on the ground amongst the others. Each one standing out in its own way.

Hope often found herself comparing herself to the things around her and the lake, she thought, was a lot like her. Nothing seemed to disturb the surface but underneath the layer of calm a series of things were brewing underneath. Making the water seem as alive as any other human strangely comforted Hope and for the remaining thirty or so minutes of class time she had left she laid down in the sun basking in the heat that she soaked up in her skin and the warmth thst dried up each tiny bead of moisture that clung to the tiny blades of grass. And for just a moment it seemed, Hope was at peace.

When the thirty minutes were up Hope sat up and removed the tiny crushed up leaves from her hair which had become frizzy in the damp humid atmosphere. Standing up she brushed the dirt and leaves and droplets of water off of her robes and walked back towards the castle. But before she got even close to the school she veered off to the left making her way to Hagrid's cabin.

Hagrid was a half giant from what she had been informed, by Hermione of course. At first this terrified her but after listening to his kind hearted speech that welcomed them back for the start of another year she found herself lossening up. Did she trust him? No, of course not. Hope didn't trust anybody but she didn't mind being in his company. Hope loved this class though because they were going to spend the majority of their time outside.

Well there was that and the fact that Hermione didn't share this class with her and nor did Harry it was just her and Ron. Ron seemed a little more at ease than Hermione and Harry and had seemed to loose intrest in watching her over the past few days. Because of this reason Hope liked Ron a whole lot more than the other two.

Hope walked up to Hagrid's hut putting her mental breakdown out of her mind as she stood in front of the small wooden cabin house. A large group of people arived only moments later and Hope registered Ron's presence almost immediatley. His red hair was a dead giveaway and Hope found it almost comical that he was the only person in the class with red hair.

The next person Hope registered was Draco Malfoy and his two goons two feet in tow. Hope only stared at him, unfeeling as he glided towards the house with a fake look of utter disgust planted on his face. The way his face was pinched up made him resmble a ferret and Hope bit back a bitter laugh as she saw him come to a stop about twenty feet away.

He had made sure to avoid her for the weekend and at breakfast, she had noticed that he got up almost as early as she did, and he was hardly ever seen in the common room with her. Only a minute later Hagrid came out of his cabin his dog Fang trotting along behind him obidently. Hope listened to everything he had to say carefully and learned that today the class would be learning about Thesterals.

Hope listened as he described them and they fit the description of the strange horse-like things she had seen pulling the carrige that led to the school. Hagrid continued his speech on the strange creatures but one sentence stuck with Hope from his speech and that was that you could only see the theasterals if you had seen death.

Hope had seen death many times actually but that wasn't the reason the sentence stuck. It was because right at that moment Hagrid gestured for them to look and see if they noticed them ( They had been walking in the forest the entire time you see.) Hope glanced over at Ron she saw that glimmer of recognition in his eyes. He could see them to. Ron Weasly had experienced a death.

Hope left the Care of magical creatures class with a mind filled to the brim. Everytime she thought that she had something figured out, something under control something happened to screw it up. She was shocked by her revelation that Ron had seen death and that if he had then did that mean that the others had to? Who's death had he witnssed? Surely it must have been bad because along with the regognition, horror lurked in Ron's eyes as he stared at the thesterals in silent awe and terror. But there was one question that bothered her the most. What could he have seen to make him look so lost?

Hope made her way into the Slitherin common room, it's usual comfort gone, and threw herself down in one of the chairs. Dinner was going to start in an hour and children and teenagers alike were rushing in and out of the room dertermined to either study or talk to their friends. Hope just watched each go by trying to suck up any positive emotion that she could as she silently reviewed spells in her mind. She didn't notice when her eyes started drooping and before she knew it she was asleep.

Hermione's mind was racing going over every possible reason Hope could have had in order to fail the spell. She was driving herself mad doing it. Every possibility had entered the head girl's mind and every possibility she had turned down. This process continued until she was left at a dead end.

Hermione swore up and down that she would figure this out but in the meantime she had to keep an eye on Hope. Of course, they had been doing this for the past weeks and it seemed that Hope spent every second of her freetime in the library. She was never going to learn anything this way and Hope wasn't going to open up like she did that night on the train and even then she wasn't competely herself.

Something in Hermione's subconcious knew that she needed to figure something out soon. Something was brewing and in the back of her already full head she knew that when the storm hit nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Hope awoke to the teasing of her fellow Slitherins and she groaned in the back of her mind to tired and worn out to deal with anything the horrible girls had to say. "So," The one that appeared to be the leader said. "I heard from a little birdie that you were a mudblood. And you know us Slitherins motto you can take the mudblood away from the stupid muggles but you can't take the stupid muggle out of the mudblood."

Hope closed her eyes, ignoring the girl as she went on to talk about how impossible it was that a mudblood got into Slitherin and how the sorting hat must have made a monumental mistake in putting such an unworthy person in the best house in Hogwarts. THe Slitherin's speech was much the same as Draco's had been but it sounded so much more scincere.

Hope's temper was rising though and her patience was becoming short. "I think we should put her in her place. Don't you girls?" The leader, Hope had found out her name was Pansy, said pulling out her wand and aiming it at Hope. "What spell should we use girls?" She questioned and in those few seconds she had to think she stared around the room.

Not many people where there but the one person who was could also do the most damage. Draco was sitting across the room chatting along with his friends and laughing every now and then. Hope then glanced back at Pansy and she realized that they had made their decision.

Something inside of Hope snapped just then and before she put any logic into it had tackled Pansy and snatched the wand out of her hand pointing it back at her. She would have used her own but Hope knew that it was on the other side of the couch and it would take more time to get to.

Horror flickered in Pansy's eyes momentairaly but it was gone a second later and then she threw her head back and laughed her 'friends' pulling out their own wands. "Ha, what are you going to do with that mudblood?" One of the girls said loudly and Hope bit her lip. What had she been thinking.

Draco glanced up at the girls and his hand twitched violently. He really hated that stupid Pansy Parkinson. Thinking she owned the whole world. He had had enough of her insesscent whining and pure stupidity. Then he noticed the girl Pansy's possy were picking on and his expression darkened.

He watched as a look of masked longing flashed in Hope's eyes that were taking in each opponet standing before her. He stared even as she yelled the spell 'Aguamenti!' and a streaming jet of water lashed out at the girls standing before her. Each screamed and Hope stared at the wand as if transfixed by the simple spell.

He found it funny, that look on her face plus the looks on Pansy and the other snobby girls faces, and he burst out laughing drinking in the scene with happy eyes. Well... as happy as Draco could seem without being out of what he called 'pureblood mode'. The two boys beside him joined in as well and so did a few of the other people that were still in the common room even if that wasn't many.

The only thing Draco couldn't understand was the relieved feeling he got as Hope threw down the wand and marched up to the dormatories slinging her bag over her shoulder in the process. Draco had to admit that she was okay looking but what would make him feel relief that she was okay. It wasn't her blood for she was a muggle born. Although, Draco didn't really care about blood purity. Not like his father did and he felt nieve and stupid for all of the comments he had made in the past.

He never wanted to be this way. A 'loyal' servant of the dark lord. The heir to the Malfoy lineage. The supposed Slitherin prince of Hogwarts. He never wanted those things but he lied to himself and told himself he did till he had convinced himself of the belief that mudbloods, blood tratiors, and muggles should be eradicated.

But now that feeling that what his father and his 'co-workers' where doing was right was gone and Draco was getting more and more apprehensive about what the future had set in store for all of Hogwarts.

Draco stirred himself back to the problem of Hope. Pondering his feelings once again. If it wasn't her looks and it wasn't her blood. What made Draco feel the relief. He pondered this over the next few hours and not one logical answer could he find.

**A/N: Hope everyone that is reading liked this chapter. The updates might take longer now though because my internet connection has been lost at my mother's house for the time being. So here is the deal I will write multiple chapters and you guys can read them all at once. Thanks and please please review. They mean a lot to me!**


	7. To trust or not to trust

**A/N: Hello Hello Hello welcome back! Hope you like this chapter! I am still trying to write multiple chapters so forgive me if you all have been waiting for a long time! =) Also I have started a forum and intend to use it so if you have any questions, comments, or anything else really please post there. Also, if I don't update soon you all are more than welcome to yell at me.**

**Disclaimer: I hereby claim no rights to Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, or any other thing I shall write in the future. **

Monday rolled into Tuesday and then on to Wednesday and for the most part Hope had been able to learn each spell that had been thrown her way from each of the classes. She had found her inspiration... anger. Hope had discovered that anger fueled the response she recieved from the wand. She wondered why that was when every other student in the school could perform the spells easily.

She had only one possible answer and it was that she had not used her magic as a child and never learned anything about it and so it had been locked up inside her only rearing it's ugly head when her anger corupted her mind. Although that theory had several gaps in it. Hope had decided to do more research on the subject later but for now she could be concerned with the task assigned to her by Itex.

She still had no idea on how she was to get in contact with the company considering no muggle electronics worked inside the school. She knew that they had to meet eventually. She had only been there two weeks and already the information she had and would gather was, in her opinion, to large to remain unnoticable. So it was to her immence suprise that Thursday morning a small jet black owl dropped a small envolope on her breakfast plate.

She glanced around cautiously and seeing no one else sitting around her she picked up the envolope. She was starting to think that getting up early had it's good points. Slowly she flipped it over and almost immediatley recognised the Itex symbol. Hope's breathing hitched in her throat and negative thoughts began to leak through her protective barrier. With tembleing fingers she ripped the seal and gently pulled the official looking paper out. Then she began to read...

_3140716,_

_I trust this letter found you and because we are told that owl post is periodically checked every now and again we must be sure that no other being could have happened across it. Look for us at a place one might not normally expect. _

_Hayden_

Hope's confusion was brewing and as she went to stick the letter back into the envolope for later evaluation her hand found another piece of of paper in the bottom.

_I Rebecca Ridgewell give Hope Ridgewell permission to attend Hogsmeade trips. _

And then her confusion vanished and she suddenly understood exactly what they where talking about. They wanted her to sneak away from Hogsmeade to give them the information. She mentally slapped Hayden for his stupidity. Of course any person could figure this out. She thought that Itex could really do a better job in choosing which Erasers they had send messages. That plus the fact that he could have actually used her name. She brewed over this for several minutes before standing abruptly and stalking off not quite sure where she was going to spend the next hour or so.

Hope ended up on the lake staring off across the water and letting her feelings of loneliness sink in. Before she had come to Hogwarts she had no name for this emotion or any emotion really. She was a shell an empty miserable being with no life and no future. But now she had some sort of hope for herself and her name meant more to her now than ever.

Eventually she pulled out one of the books she had taken from the library and started to read. This continued for sometime until she came across a name that made her drop the book in shock. Harry was in that book! She sat there for several moments before her couriosity over powered her and she snatched it back up scanning the page and taking in the shocking information.

Harry was The Boy Who Lived? The chosen one if this book was correct. Why had she never realized this before? Why had she not heard all of the talk that had been going around? Now she remembered several people talking about it. Hope blinked a few times before sitting the book back down on the grass and curling her legs under her. Voldemort tried to kill Harry. The Harry Potter that was now eating breakfast in the Great Hall.

She had no time to arrange her thoughts as someone cleared their throat suggestively. Hope turned slowly and saw none other than the boy she had just been reading about, Harry Potter. Hope stared at him for several moments doing her best to hide the shock that was plastered to her face. "Oh, hi Harry." She managed with a small weak smile. "Hi," he mummered before dropping down beside her on the grass. "What are you doing out here so early?" He asked her not missing the look that she was trying to hide from him. "I, um, I couldn't sleep. I don't seem to do much of that." She told him staring at her shoes and subtley pushing the book out of his view. Then both settled for staring out across the lake.

The two seemed comfortable like that just staring but it couldn't last forever and so eventually Harry glanced over at her and snorted leaning back and resting his head on his arms. "I saw the book you know." he whispered his eyes fluttering closed. Hope sighed and pulled the book out from behind her back figuring that there was no reason for her to continue hiding it. "I'm in it you know. Although I'm sure that you are aware of that by the way you were desperately trying to hide it and by the look on your face when you saw it was me walking up." he continued opening one eye and gazing at her couriously.

"Your more observent than I thought you were." Hope whispered more to herself than to Harry and for a moment she thought she had offended him but instead of getting defensive he just laughed and told her that he had been known to do that every now and then and that half the time he was the exact opposite. "There are a lot of rumors going around the school about you." Harry stated a few moments later obviously realizing that he wasn't going to get a laugh out of the quiet girl beside him.

"Are there really?" she asked and then "What kind of rumors?". Harry told her about how everyone thought that she was a Death Eater in disguise or in more recent cases a war refugee that had been running from Voldemort. Hope followed along the best she could extracting any kind of information she could about this 'dark lord'. He seemed terrifing and a thorn in Itex's side.

Hope listened as he told her that people's opinions started to change after she practically told off Draco in the middle of the hallway. That and the fact that it had leaked out that she was muggleborn. Hope nearly scoffed as Harry told her about the crazy rumors about her and Draco's confrontation and in return she told him how the incident in the hall had been blown way out of proportion.

She dismissed all of the gossip Harry threw at her and by the time they had finished their little chat she realized that her shoulders felt just a tad bit lighter and she felt slightly more carefree than she had at the beginning of the day. "You know," Harry said feeling strange now that he and Hope had started talking.

She was a total stranger and she was hiding something but then again he was hiding things to. And now he was about to tell her something he had never told anyone else before "sometimes I wish that I hadn't ever been introduced to the wizarding world. Don't get me wrong I love it and all my friends to! But sometimes I wish that none of this was real and that I didn't have such a weight on my shoulders. You know what I mean?" he asked her and Hope found herself nodding despite her logic telling her not to.

Then a brilliant snow white owl touched down beside Harry and stuck out it's leg that had a greyish type envolope clutched in his talons. Harry took it off and petted the owl which returned the boy's affections by nipping on the tips of his fingers. Hope nearly gasped at the beauty of the owl and then her fingers were moving on their own accord reaching out and touching the owls feathers.

It hooted loudly at her and if she wasn't mistaken she could almost say that it sounded angry and then it took off flying back towards the tall tower on the east side of the school. "Sorry," Harry said "she's just mad because I didn't give her any food." Hope smiled slightly and stood once again brushing small leaves off the back of her robe. "We need to get to class." she told him and then they were both walking back towards the school each feeling as though their burden just got a bit lighter.

Hope wasn't welcome in her common room anymore or even anywhere near her dorms. Not that she was all that welcome before. The Slitherins were mocking, teasing, and taunting her where ever she went. So instead of walking to the Slitherin table that Sunday she did something that, in her opinion, was very stupid. She wandered to the Griffindor table. Hope chewed on a piece of her hair as she stopped right in front of the four teenagers she had previously been trying to avoid.

[What a twist this is.] Hope thought as the qaurtet glanced up from their paper. "Hello Hope!" Harry said in a cheery voice which made the others send him questioning glances. Maybe he hadn't told them about their little private chat. Hope mummered a hello and then asked if she could sit down. "Of course." Hermione said and beamed after sending a glance at Harry. It was look that demanded to know more.

Hope plopped down in the seat before her and took time to notice the other Griffindors around her. Some where sending questioning looks her way and others where staring at her hatefully but there were also quite a few that were looking at her with complete admiration. She guessed it was because of her and Draco's 'fight' in the hall. If that was what they wanted to call it. Harry followed her gaze and nearly everyone looked down as his eyes raked over them.

"How have you been?" Hermione asked ginuinely courious and friendly. Hope was shocked by the honesty in Hermione's voice as she sympathized with the others about Hope's treatment in Slitherin house. "Bloody gits the lot of them." Ron said and winked at Hope silently telling her not to let the Slitherins bother her.

She chated with the group for a long while, Although she wasn't the one doing most of the talking, and found that these people where incedibly nice and they were honest about wanting to know more about her. Hope was flattered by this and found that all her incecurites were slowly slipping away soon to be forgotten as she made her place in these four people's lives. Their friendship was just about to bloom.

Although Hope was still not part of the groups close knit circle she still hung around them quite often in the next few months. She was starting to enjoy their prescence and every night she fretted over it. Her mind was telling her one thing but her heart was telling her another. Her pile of information was steadily getting larger and as such her time asleep dwindled.

The more information she collected added another chip in herself. These people she was slowly starting to trust she was betraying. Her sleepless nights were filled with constant regret or when she did get some sleep horrible dreams played through the night. And as the first Hogsmeade trip grew closer her worry grew as well.

Hope knew that it was only a matter of time before someone found her out. She dreaded the day that came.


	8. Cracking Him

**Author's note: Hey guys! This is the 8****th**** chapter of The Great War. I hope you all like it because I've been working on it almost nonstop for the past four days. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did I can guarentee you that I would not be on this site.**

Hope's morning was very... normal, at least in her sense of the word. Although, her nerves were getting slightly erratic. The first Hogsmeade trip was approaching and Hope knew that she had to be on the look out for any sign of Itex. The golden quartets lives were now completely intertwined with hers. Classes, eating times, and now even pastimes were spent with the group. Each day Hope felt more alive and happy. Sometimes she felt as if it was all a dream and she would wake up back in that dreaded cage with whitecoats all around her and her parents once again out of her reach. Hope sighed in contentment as she and her companions sat at the table joking and laughing with one another. She couldn't help but feel though, that her joy was short lived.

OoOoOoO

Hermione knew that things were going down hill as soon as she saw Malfoy standing just outside the great hall. She watched him as his 'friends' called out to him and she saw him yank out his wand and yell stupefy at the oblivious Hope. Who, to Hermione's surprise, was finally smiling. She couldn't believe the progress they had made with her. Hope now laughed and smiled like every other person in the school and Hermione felt a sense of achievement that she and her best friends had been able to befriend the quiet girl. Hermione still knew that Hope was hiding something of course but at the moment who wasn't. Dumbledore was dead and nobody at Hogwarts felt safe and so people slowly started to become more secretive and an unwelcome tension seemed to fill the grounds. People were gossiping about each other left and right and old friendships had broken because nobody knew who to trust.

Hermione's eyes widened as the pulsing ball of red light collided with Hope's back. The force of the blow knocked the girl off her feet and flat on her back. Hope let out a small oof as she slammed into the concrete and then she was still. People all around suddenly broke out in hysterics and Malfoy was showered with insults and jeers all around.

Draco found himself walking forward, a sudden fear taking over. Was she okay? Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched as Draco stopped right in front of Hope and gazed down at her in what looked like concern. Harry launched himself forward fully intent on strangling Malfoy. His anger with the blond had been building for six years and Harry had been ready to explode since Dumbledore was murdered. This incident had finally pushed him over the edge though. Harry was nearly there his fingers wide open and ready but he was beaten by Hope though whose arm shot out and wrapped around Draco's ankle. The auburn haired witch then yanked and Malfoy was knocked off his feet too. He felt the air rush past him and then the collision with the stone walkway. Hope rolled over and put her arm on his throat pressing down a tad bit. Malfoy gagged and sputtered from the pressure. "Let go of the wand, Draco." She whispered her arm pressing down into his flesh a tad bit harder which made him cough more. He felt his grip on the wand slacken and then he released it entirely. Hope grabbed the piece of wood and threw it to the side way out of the reach of the boy under her and stood relieving Draco of the pressure she was inflicting on his throat.

For a moment Draco stared at her. She had fooled him and now he had to pay the price. He didn't understand her, and he didn't understand himself. One moment he wanted nothing more than to have the life that Granger did or Longbottom or, hell even Looney Lovegood and the next all he wanted was his to please his parents. The truth was, Draco didn't want to do this anymore. He shook his head before rising and then turning around brushing through the crowd and to the solitude of the Room of Requirement.

Hope felt Hermione and Ginny grab her arms and she felt Ron and Harry take the flanks. They were there for her, something she knew Draco didn't have. She watched the two boys he had been with laugh as he retreated. He was just like her in so many ways. As they passed by Draco's wand Hope shook off her friends and wrapped her fingers around the wand. Carefully she placed it into her satchel and she swore to herself she would return it. Hope could see the wheels turning in Hermione's head and she knew that she was thinking about her actions. Hope marched of the other four following her footsteps and contemplating what they had just seen.

That evening Hope told the trio goodbye early and set out on her search for Draco. She started in the common room and worked her way from there. She even got up the nerve to ask a few Slitherins, not that they told her anything. She continued her search until an idea struck her. She would ask the houselves in the kitchen. Hope tiptoed through the dungeons and made her way to the picture of the fruit that had once been her eating place. She stopped that when she befriended the golden quartet. Hope whispered the password and tickled the pear the same way she had done many times before.

The portrit swung open revealing a kitchen full of busy houselves. In the corner of the kitchen she saw the wooden table she used to sit at. Her eyes raked across the kitchen taking in every piece of cook wear and every little body that was fluttering around. She felt herself relax and her muscles relax. The smells of fresh spices and chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pies baking hung in the air. She also smelled the Butter beer, it was a smell that never left the kitchen. Hope felt something brush against the sleeve of her robe. Her golden brown eyes met golf ball size green ones and a name made its way through her lips. "Dobby." She whispered putting her fingernail in her mouth and biting at the tip. Dobby's eyes widened and he snapped his fingers making a chair appear out of nowhere behind her. "Miss. Ridgewell, it has been so long since you visited Dobby and the others here, miss." Dobby said handing over a plate of chocolate cookies. "I know," Hope replied taking one of the cookies and sitting down, "I'm sorry for that. I promise I'll visit more often. You see, I just recently met Harry and-" "Mr. Potter, oh Dobby is so happy miss. Ridgewell has met Harry Potter. Dobby is grateful that Mr. Potter is so kind. Never had Dobby met such a wonderful wizard." Hope smiled at Dobby, and took another cookie. "Dobby, do you know were Draco Malfoy is?" Hope asked him, stopping him from speaking. "Dobby does not Miss. Ridgewell. But, if Missus wishes Dobby can find Mr. Malfoy." Dobby told her setting the plate of cookies on a nearby counter. "If you would be so kind Dobby, I would appreciate it. Oh, don't let him know. I don't want him to run off." She affirmed. Dobby nodded and snapped his fingers again disaapearing into thin air.

He returned five minutes later with the information that Draco was in the Room of Requirement and he relayed the directions to her. Hope thanked him and with one last parting smile left the kitchen. She ascended the stairs nervously and constantly looked over her shoulder. Her time was running out, all students were to be in their common rooms by ten and it was nine thirty now. Her search for Draco had taken longer than she had expected. Finally she came to the wall on the seventh floor Dobby had told her of. She knew because it had a crack running down it. Hope thought of giving Draco's wand back to him and walked in front of the invisible door three times. Slowly, the door appeared and Hope took a deep breath. Ever so slowly her hand reached the handle and turned it. The door slid open easily and she took a small step inside. There he was, Draco sat by the fire in the large fireplace staring into the roaring flames. Hope cleared her throat and Draco jumped about three feet off the ground. "Ridgewell," he sneered at her standing from his spot on the floor. "Draco," Hope said stiffly her posture going from loose to rigid in two seconds. "What are you doing here?" He asked her in his coldest tone. Hope smirked at him, it was a Slytherin smirk he had to admit. Then she walked a few feet forward and reached into her satchel. Slowly she pulled out the wand she had thrown hours beforehand. Hope then threw it at his feet. Her patience had ended when he snapped at her. Draco stared at the wand in disbelief completely unaware that he had missed it at all. That wasn't the thing that shocked him though, it was the fact she had returned it. Draco nodded to her and retrieved the wand from the floor avoiding her eyes as he rose. Hope's eyebrows rose and she turned to leave, her eyes rolling heavily. She knew that he was just as stubborn as she was and wasn't going to make any effort to thank her and she didn't think he was going to speak to her either. "Wait," Draco demanded making Hope freeze in her tracks, maybe she was wrong. "Why did you bring this to me?" he asked her ice still clear in his words. He was pissed, she had humiliated him for the last time. And yet, every time the thought of hurting her popped into his mind he couldn't fathom the idea and so the idea was quickly disregarded. He wanted nothing more than to choke her but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Draco subconsciously pulled at his locks of hair. He had been doing that for the past few hours. As his eyes raked over the room he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and saw the same tortured soul he had been seeing for the past three years.

"I didn't do it for you Malfoy!" Hope snapped, just because she thought they were alike didn't mean she didn't think he was a prick. "That is a lie and you know it." He told her seeing her frustration. "I know there was a reason, so you might as well not even try to deny it!" "Because we are alike!" Hope cried, unsure of her current state of mind. He made her so angry she could just reach out and choke him. "We are nothing alike." He declared, his voice reaching a coldness that would turn the sun to ice. "Oh yeah! Well fine, if you want to see it that way!" Hope cried throwing her hands up in frustration. "Then how are we alike Hope? What do you see in yourself that you also see in me!" Draco yelled at her pulling his hair harder. She was so frustrating. Hope gaped at him and then retaliated just as loud: "You want to know how we are alike Malfoy? Fine, we are both stubborn and cold and secretive and we don't trust people! We hide our pain and act like nothing is wrong when really our lives are shit! We are both striving towards a goal that is out of our reach! That is how we are alike. You want to know how I know? I know because every time I look at you I see myself reflected back at me! I know because you disappear at all hours of the day to escape the crowds. That is how you've always gotten away isn't it Malfoy? You are just like me and yet you still deny it! You don't have anything against muggle-borns you don't mean what you say! You are trying to please someone else. Most importantly, you aren't the face you hide behind!" Draco's face drained of blood. How could she know that. It was as if he had let her perform legilimens on him. She knew exactly how he felt and that is what finally pushed him over the edge. Draco collapsed on the stone floor and let out a cry of pure grief. Then the sobs started, the dry gasping sobs that shook his body violently, but there were no tears. He occasionally caught a glimpse or two of Hope and he noticed that she hadn't moved from her spot. For that he was grateful. She had allowed him to keep his Malfoy pride.

Eventually his sobs ended but he didn't move he just laid there. Hope watched him and she felt sick. She had spilled her secrets to him. He knew she was here for a reason now and she couldn't help but be afraid of the consequences that could come of that. "Do you believe me now?" she heard herself say, but the sound was distant as if it wasn't her speaking. Draco nodded, once again turning his head to stare into the fire. "I'm guessing Potter told you then? I bet he told you all about me, since you two are all chummy." Draco told her, trying his best to sound evasive. Hope made her way over to the fire and sat down next to him. Draco couldn't help but notice the vast distance she put between them.

"Why are you here?" Draco asked her carefully, avoiding beating around the bush. "I don't see how that matters." Hope wasn't going to tell him anything, especially because it involved him and this school. "What about you?" she asked him, not expecting to learn anything. "You would have to have the back story." Draco said to her, tracing the lines on the floor with his eyes. "Tell me?" Hope asked him, she was genuinely curious. "What do you think I'm going to tell you? You haven't exactly been forthcoming with information on your past." He smirked at her his eyes never leaving the floor. Hope took a deep breath, should she tell him? No, it would be irrelevant to her cause. Then something struck her and she blinked her eyes rapidly. Would it work? Hope looked over at Draco and saw the weakness there. Maybe if she got him to spill his guts and trust her she could use it to her advantage. "Tell me one thing," she told him, "does it have something to do with Voldemort?"

**Author's note: There all finished! I am quite nervous about posting this because I'm not sure if anyone will like it. I hope you all like the way my story is going so far! Thanks for reading and please review to tell me if you like it!**


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